My Dead Lily
by TaurenLeaf
Summary: The Perfect Love Triangle [square]... Gaara vs Deidara vs Itachi. Who will win the girl?
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: **We do not own Naruto.

**My Dead Lily: Prologue **

* * *

"Wake Up!" 

Deidara knocked furiously on her door.

"Hello?" there was a slight edge of annoyance in his voice. "Yeah...meeting soon…."

Still, no answer.

Deidara had always had much, much, much patience, but lately, this girl has been pissing him off. Though he had to admit, she was _some_ girl! Anyone would call her beautiful, but really, she was part of Akatsuki! Perhaps the most dangerous—no, _the _most dangerous organization in the world; no one could touch her.

Now really angry, since he had been standing there trying to get her out of bed for the past 10 minutes, which means 10 minutes wasted when he could have been improving his art…yeah…

"Fine" he growled, "I'm coming in!"

This, really, was a huge mistake. Because, of course, he had walked in on _the_ Naiyuri…half dressed. For a moment there, both where silent while figuring what was going on, when realization swept over Naiyuri.

"YOU—!" her face scrunched up in disgust, "YOU PERVERT!" Naiyuri yelled, probably enough to wake the whole hotel.

They were obviously disguised. All of Akatsuki were. Going into a village completely undisguised, like they usually would have done, was not a choice if they were staying for long. Sunagakure (Hidden Village of the Sand) was not to be underestimated.

Naiyuri, who had been half asleep, fumbling with her clothes and too tired to speak, (which would explain the lack of response to Deidara's attempt to wake her) was now red with fury, shouting insults and throwing things at poor Deidara who had only wanted to help!

But Deidara was not paying attention to a single thing she was saying, he was too busy staring at her. Naiyuri was too mad to realize she was still -almost- naked. All she had on were her very revealing undergarments and short pajama pants.

Shocked and frozen on the spot, Deidara was oblivious to the plates and vases crashing onto the wall around him. _Look at those br— _

_Smack!_

Suddenly, great pain filled his body…especially the…er, lower area. He let out the traditional 'AH' and bent over with legs together. She had kicked him in his—um, place better left unmentioned.

Naiyuri watched him wiggle in pain with a satisfied grin. _Serves him right…the pervert…lousy, son-of-a-bi—_

"FINE! THE MEETING IS IN 15 MINUTES!" and with that, Deidara walked out, unbalanced and slammed the door shut.

* * *

**A/N:**

_**TaurenLeaf Primary**- _This is the first fanfic TaurenLeaf has ever written! Nai means like…um no life. Sort of like a pen… just something that's not dead or alive. And yuri means lily, so I can just say 'My Dead Lily', right?

**TaurenLeaf Secondary**- Wow… That's like a second grader's writing right there (author's note). I wonder how you even managed to get the whole prologue… Since you're still not done with the first chapter…And it's been a month…

Reviews Please! XD


	2. Chapter 1

**My Dead Lily: Chapter 1**

TaurenLeaf

* * *

The Village of Taorefusu usually had clear blue skies and a bristling wind that was always strong enough to knock someone over. Their streets were abundantly filled with shops and stalls and the aromas of corner bakery shop. Today was no exception; shouts of goods could be heard throughout the whole village, and the busy bakery filling the air with the scent of chestnut dangos. A whole month's supply was ordered to Sunagakure.

"Damn," the baker sighed, "we're gonna have a fat Kazekage."

But today, the sweet breeze carried a slight chill in the air. Not enough to make the villagers notice though, they were used to temperature changes in the desert. However, in the distance, there was what seemed like a piece of large, discolored cotton candy. It looked like it was just barely off the ground, drifting closer and closer. A storm cloud, it was a storm cloud filled with bickering thunder and lightning, flashing and roaring at one another. This would have been an ideal storm except for the fact that it was the desert. Not a drop of rain was supposed to come down from the sky. No rain in the desert, right? But this time there was.

When it came, the destruction and the power of it became a reality. It was like all sounds from moments before were put on mute, and now there was only the raging of the thunder. The skies around were filled with flashes of lightning, like giants taking pictures. Screams and the thumping footsteps of hundreds of panicked people, scrambling to their homes were heard. Everywhere, roofs were flying off, and buildings were set on fire.

The storm found its next target, a store sign, and it sent the whole place into flames. It was the corner bakery shop, and all the dangos were gone. A girl shrieks in the distance, you could tell that she too, had fallen to the storm.

* * *

Numerous miles away, Naiyuri and Deidara were strolling through the busiest street in Suna, unhurriedly walking toward the meeting spot. There was a light, happy feeling in the atmosphere that both Deidara and Naiyuri strongly disliked.

It seemed like everyone in the village was preparing for an important event. Children were running around with banners flying behind them, _Happy Birthday Temari-sama! _

Each banner included a picture of what was probably meant to be this 'Temari-sama'.

"They call that art?" asked Deidara in wonderment. "Hmm…like I've always said, stupid people can't comprehend art." Deciding to show them true art, Deidara waved his arms and in one swift movement and produced a clay model of a bird. "I call this, _Saliva and Sand_" he announced, his chest swelling up with pride.

He smirked, "This is art, yeah…"

Leaning on the model and looking extremely satisfied, he was soon surrounded by the 'stupid' children who were beaming at him.

"Wow, mister!" one of them said, "How did you do that?"

"Uh…yeah…" He clenched his fist, making sure his palms were unseen.

"Mister..." another started asking, "What is saliva?"

"Uh…" Deidara looked around nervously. They weren't supposed to talk to anyone outside of Akatsuki when it wasn't necessary.

Something caught his eye, or rather, a lack of something, some_one _to be more specific. _Wait…where's Naiyuri?_

He scanned through every crowd, past every face around him. _That bitch—I turn around for one second and she disappears…_

_

* * *

_Naiyuri felt a cool rush of air as she walked in. She heard a soft jingle of bells as the door closed. _Thank god for air conditioning_, she thought. The desert sun was unbearable; she didn't know how the people of Suna could handle it. She just couldn't take any more outside, and besides, she had to get away from Deidara and his stupid habit of saying _yeah_; she knew that once his 'art' caught his attention, he would be as annoying as hell. _Well… He's already annoying as hell…_

She walked up and down the isles of display counters and shelves; she was in a jewelry store. Stopping at a particular corner, she bent down. It featured her favorite stone, jade. There were bracelets, necklaces, earrings, rings, brooches, and the centerpiece of the display, a beautiful hair pin. The pin itself was gold, polished thoroughly. It had a lily on it, garnished with jade leaves. The small details of each leaf were in a different stone, emerald. The lily's pedals were made of the finest jade she had ever seen, and the heart of the lily with the clearest crystal.

"That's the early 17th century Princess Kikuko's favorite hairpin."

Naiyuri looked up. The owner of this new voice was an elderly man in glasses with graying hairs and a name tag stating 'Kayahara—founder'.

"It was one of the Princess's most prized possessions; it was a present to her from the emperor for her 16th birthday."

Naiyuri stared at it, and as her interest grew, the center of the stone illuminated into a light warm hue. She had never seen anything like it.

Kayahara opened the display and very slowly took out the hair pin. "It's special," he said as he lifted it up closer to them. "It is assumed that this pin gives eternal life." He was now turning the pin from side to side. Gradually, the crystal was changing colors. First was a deep red, then a rosy pink, and going on to an orange… and on and on to the colors of the rainbow and the in-betweens. "After the pin was given to her, she never got hurt, she never got sick, nor did she age. Supposedly, she lived for 121 years, the longest life ever."

They stood in silence for a while, Naiyuri taking in the information the man said.

"So… How did she die?" Naiyuri asked.

The man replied, "The most common theory is she drowned herself on her birthday, taking the pin with her. Something about joining her husband in heaven. Still, if it were me, I would've kept it. Who wouldn't want eternal life?"

"Do honestly believe in that Kayahara-san?" said Naiyuri, shaking her head.

"Well, no, but it makes an interesting selling point, doesn't it?" smiled the shopkeeper.

"Could I try it on?" Naiyuri asked.

Without hesitation, Kayahara handed the hairpin over. He had always had the problem of trusting people too easily.

* * *

_Ah…where is she?_ Deidara was now three streets away from their initial position.

_Fuck her…causing so much trouble— I swear I will kill her... now that Sasori's gone; she'll have no one to protect her, yeah…_ This thought had preferably lightened his mood; he was now imagining the ways of killing Naiyuri that would bring the most pain…

Just as he turned at the corner, two figures emerged from the other end of the road.

"EEEEEEEEEHHHHHH! _Gaaaaara_! We're almost there! Why can't you just come with me?" this was all said in probably the most whiny voice ever heard by humankind. It was Naruto. "C'mon, you know exactly what Temari-oneechan wants! _PLEASE!_"

There was a half grunt-half sigh, followed by a "Fine." That was Gaara. The truth was he really _didn't_ know what his sister wanted for her birthday…

"Alright! Good thing you know what to get her! Shikamaru said when he forgot her birthday last year; he had to stay at the hospital for a whole month! Haha" laughed Naruto, "So much for men being stronger than women!"

For the rest of the journey, Naruto talked nonstop about a couple of times he had been beaten up by Sakura and in general how scary women were. "Once, Sakura-chan punched me really, really hard—for no reason!" said Naruto, "I was only _walking past_ the women's changing room!"

Gaara held back a laugh, which resulted in another half grunt. "What? Haven't you ever been hit by a girl?" Naruto snapped.

"Naruto…only you would 'walk past' the women's changing room…"

"Eh? How can you say that? I'm not stupid!" he yelled, fuming.

"Are you sure?" My god, Gaara made a joke. Just _how_ much does Uzumaki Naruto influence people?

Looking at the idiot's shocked face, Gaara shook his head and smiled (_smiled!_). They made the final turn towards the 'Kayahara's Fine Jewelry' shop.

…_Jewelry, at a time like this? What is she thinking?_

* * *

Naiyuri was admiring herself with the small mirror in front of her when she heard a soft jingle of bells. She turned the mirror slightly and saw that two ninjas had entered.

"Welcome!" the founder called out. "I'll leave you here, Miss." Naiyuri nodded in response as Kayahara left towards his new costumers.

"Ew! What's that disgusting smell?" the shorter boy whined. He had an unnaturally annoying voice, too.

She heard a couple excited yelps from the old man. "Kazekage-sama! What a surprise!"

Naiyuri's head shot up, _Kazekage? Where?_ Seeing only the two children, she was forced to believe it. One of them was the Kazekage! The three had converted to whispering in the corner; she couldn't hear anything except for a couple of whiny 'Gaara's'. That name…Gaara…she remembered…_wasn't he supposed to be dead? They _did_ extract the Ichibi, didn't they?_

It was then when she heard another soft jingle, and this time when she turned, she saw a very worried looking Deidara. He was frantically pointing at the corner where the other occupants of this store stood whispering. Naiyuri looked at him questionably. Then he began waving his arms, looking very stupid….While Naiyuri, who still didn't understand after Deidara stuck his thumb over his shoulder—the universal sign for _let's get out of here_, mouthed _What..?_

When Deidara finally gave up, he quickly glanced at Gaara and Naruto before rushing towards Naiyuri's side. "Let's _go!_" he hissed and grabbed Naiyuri's hand. Once again leaving her in a daze of confusion, "What…?" she replied. Having no time to explain why they, especially _him_, can't be seen by the people on the other side of the room, he pulled Naiyuri to the door.

At the sudden tug, Naiyuri saw a flash of bright light. The jade pin! Naiyuri was quick to make the catch, grabbing it out of thin air only centimeters before it would have hit the ground (and make an unnecessary sound that would bring the old shopkeeper to realize that his most valuable piece of jewelry was still in her hands). It was great that she chose that moment to lean over; being that a flash of something the size of her fist flew over her.

* * *

Now safe a couple meters out the door, the flustered male abruptly turned around just in time to see the bomb he threw hit a counter. That very counter cracked at the impact and completely shattered a split second later.

"Huh?" He heard the old man turn around and gasp at the site of his display destroyed. The elder whirled around just fast enough for his glasses to fly off. Abandoning them, the soon-to-be-deceased man looked up at them.

"What in the world—"

Deidara lifted his arms to begin a series of hand seals, a notion he's done in millions of situations before.

* * *

There was a sudden, loud BANG and by the time Naruto opened his eyes, he was inside a small dome of sand. He heard Gaara's panting behind him and whirled around, opening his mouth to ask what was going on, but Gaara covered his mouth. "_Shhh_" was all he said.

As the noise settled down, voices became clear, along with the screaming in the distance. They were coming from outside the store, where all noises were crystal-clear, since the window was now diminished to only shards of glass on the floor.

"Must you go around and kill everyone?" a female voice smirked. Smoke was still surrounding the sand dome.

"We have to go! We're already late!" followed a shouting male voice. "Who cares? Just _go_!" There were fading footsteps and all that was left were the screams of the villagers.

"Hey Kayahara-san, are you ok?" asked Naruto in a new, serious tone. Naruto turned around and stopped. Leaning on the back wall of the dome, was the founder of Kayahara's Fine Jewelry. Dead. He was cut everywhere with pieces of glass and sharp jewelry. He would've made it though, if his throat wasn't slit by a sharp broken piece of a golden pendant.

* * *

"YOU IDIOT! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH TROUBLE YOU CAUSED ME?" Deidara blasted a few minutes later, when they got outside the village gates. "FIRST, I HAD TO GO AROUND THE WHOLE DAMN CITY LOOKING FOR YOU, THEN I HAD TO FOLLOW TWO NINJAS, BOTH WHO HAVE SEEN _AND_ FOUGHT ME BEFORE!" he paused, taking in a sharp breath. He continued about 'only to find her in a _jewelry_ store when they had to get to a very important meeting, her _first_ meeting', but was cut off.

Naiyuri blinked. "Trouble? Trouble that _I've _caused you?" said Naiyuri in an unusually quiet and calm voice. "Is it my fault you couldn't find a store with a huge window right next to your 'Saliva and Sand' statue? Is it my fault that the ninjas you fought didn't die and might still remember you?"

"No, it isn't. In fact, none of it is," said Naiyuri before Deidara had a chance to reply. "But you know what? Let me tell you something that's _your fault_, we just went two miles off course in the opposite direction! Maybe you should focus on yelling at your own ugly face!"

Due to the off-track, they had to travel a few extra minutes, practically ensuring a punishment later. They were finally getting closer to their destination, a sand hill surrounded by the rest of the desert. At the top of the hill was a tree, an alive and healthy tree. As the two youngest Akatsuki members approached the tree, a branch gave a small twitch and their fellow member-in-crime merged with it.

"Late, I see" said a voice full of smugness.

"Save it, Zetsu…just…open up." Deidara was too tired to say much more. Even if it was only a few miles away from Suna, they were not used to the desert at all with their black cloaks.

Zetsu obediently 'opened up'. He left the branch and soon enough, the bark of the tree dissolved and left a hollow hole leading deep down into the ground. They jumped in immediately, not wanting to take any longer, and landed in the middle of a circle of people, made up of the other 7 members.

"You're late Deidara," said the Leader, and then turned and nodded, "Naiyuri."

"We got in caught in some trouble…" Deidara muttered.

"Sorry, it was all his—" Naiyuri started, pointing at Deidara, but was cut off by the stern voice of the Leader.

"It doesn't matter." Both fell silent. "You will make sure it won't happen again." He turned away in disgust. "Itachi, teach them a lesson they won't forget."

"Yes," said Itachi dutifully and moved towards Deidara. "_Tsukiyomi!_" Naiyuri only saw a brief moment of surprise on Deidara's face. A second later, his body was shrunken and his face hung low. _What could possibly happen that could be that bad?_

"…and Naiyuri" ordered the Leader.

Naiyuri closed her eyes, afraid. Nothing happened. She opened her eyes and immediately saw the Uchiha's Mangekyou Sharingan. The walls of dirt surrounding them became nothing but air. Naiyuri looked down; she was stranded on a cross and locked in place with unbreakable wires. When she looked up, Itachi came to her with a katana, slicing her open, again, and again, and again. A huge pain came rushing in chest. It was intolerable.

"_Please_, Itachi-sama, stop," cried Naiyuri, the tears wouldn't stop. "Please, _please_!"

Itachi's face was expressionless, but he stopped for a moment. "A true shinobi keeps her feelings to herself, she must never express fear," Itachi said as he raised his sword.

Naiyuri looked at his eyes, her tears, uncontrollable. "Maybe I wasn't meant to be a shinobi," she whispered softly.

As soon as her tears touched the ground, she was returned to her seat—Sasori's former.

"Now Itachi and Kisame, what were you saying about the Kyuubi?"

"We know that it's staying with the Kazekage. Gaara survived," replied Itachi. "His life was restored in exchange of the Sand's legendary Chiyo-baasan's. This is a slight problem; he's able to recognize our appearances and might find out that we're here to capture Naruto. However, as long as we stay out of sight, we'll be fine."

Deidara winced inwardly, _He's not going to be a problem anymore…but…_If Gaara was dead, then so was Naruto… he just killed the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki. Now what? Where will the Kyuubi go? Or will it bring Naruto back to life? _Hmmm…they don't know yet, as far as they're concerned, I know nothing, yeah...as long as Naiyuri doesn't tell..._

"I've got a plan," Deidara's voice perked up. "Now that we have a woman" he said nodding in Naiyuri's direction, "we could lure him out alone with Naiyuri."

"_What_? I'm supposed to be kind of like a sex icon now?" Naiyuri choked out, angrily.

"Well, yeah, that _is_ what I'm suggesting," Deidara smiled mischievously. All the fear from the Tsukiyomi disappeared with the nasty look he threw her.

"No! Wa-" Naiyuri's weak voice started to object.

"I think that is a perfect plan," the leader approved. "Naiyuri, we _might_ just keep you…"

* * *

**A/N:**

**_TaurenLeaf Primary_**- Okay, I'm still an amateur so please help me improve any way possible…just be nice…. I would also like to thank (Haha, I sound like someone who has won an award) **Tokyo Kusonagi **for being the only one to review on the prologue!

**TaurenLeaf Secondary**- Wow… I've never done so much writing in my whole life! So you guys better like it! P (No seriously, I got yelled at so many times because I was on the computer.)


	3. Chapter 2

**My Dead Lily: Chapter 2**  
TaurenLeaf

**

* * *

**

**Wham**! Naiyuri woke to the deafening sound. **Wham**! She tiredly rubbed her eyes. _Deidara…you wake me up one more time and I'll_—**Wham**! _…that's not right... It's not coming from the door…_

Naiyuri got up and opened the window, catching the warm draft as it filled the room.

_One…no two figures_, she processed. There were in fact, two silhouettes in the distance. The taller of the two had its arms extended towards the other. The second figure looked unstable; it was tripping and had odd shapes coming out of different areas. The figures were obviously a puppeteer and its puppet. The puppet was sloppily throwing weapons at a clay board (trees were rare in Suna), as unprofessional as a snot nosed, C average, academy brat.

_Training? At this hour_? Naiyuri threw on a quick outfit and jumped out her window, leaping from rooftop to rooftop until she was directly above the man. "How can you be training?" she asked.

"Sorry, I didn't realize anyone would be awake," the puppeteer replied. He was dressed in a black robe and had on a headdress. What is a headdress, you ask? It's an ugly thing that some ugly people put on their head—probably to try hiding something ugly. And that wasn't all that was strange about him; his face was caked with purple paint, sort of like a woman with her beauty mask. Well, not _that_ much, but why would anyone want to color their face purple?

"That's right. No one in their right mind would be awake at three in the morning. Which is exactly why you're disturbing my sleep!" yelled Naiyuri, annoyed. "Then again, I can see why you're training."

"Huh?"

"You're doing it all wrong. Toput it plainly, you just suck."

"What?" the stranger said, in a slight irritation.

"Here, lend me your puppet." Naiyuri ordered. Ordered, as in—the man didn't have a choice.

"No way! It's a prize–"

"—you want me to use you instead?" she said, in a tone she used often with Deidara. She found it entertaining how easy it was to make men ten times as tough as her (although they were rare), fall to her feet and obey anything coming.

"Use the puppet, the puppet's good."

"Watch," said Naiyuri. She quickly formed her chakra into strings and attached them to the joints of the puppet—just like how Sasori-sensei taught her.

She pulled back her fingers slightly, and with a last exhausted creak, the puppet fell apart into each and every individual piece. Naiyuri made, with another jolt of a finger, all the pieces flip perfectly, revealing the kunai, needles and all the other hidden weapons. The man stared at it─there were a couple weapons he had never seen before.

Suddenly, they shot upward and flew—top speed, at the man. And once again, with a twitch of a finger, they abruptly stopped in mid-air, inches from face of the surprised puppeteer, as if someone had pressed the pause button.

"Wow... I mean, that's basic stuff…"the man said unconvincingly.

"Really, is it now?" Naiyuri questioned, raising an eyebrow. "Let's see, then."

She brought her arms up slowly and dramatically. Sasori of Akatsuki's apprentice crossed her arms, resulting in weapons once again flying towards the surprised man. He, knowing the puppet the best (supposedly) dodged them with ease. He _was_ the one who installed them. At first, the puppet had weapons that were worn out and useless. He had replaced them all (or so he thought).

Naiyuri smiled. She twisted her fingers in a way that seemed impossible. Two new compartments opened, and the weapons they contained burst out. They were missiles, ones that the man hadn't ever seen. They spiraled and twisted and whatnot, without Naiyuri even moving as much as an inch.

When the man dodged them, they followed—he couldn't get away. "Stop them! I didn't know about those, okay?"

"Hmph! I knew it…" Naiyuri said. _This puppet is definitely Sasori's; an older version…_She swiftly pulled back her arms and released the chakra strings, all in one gesture. The missiles stopped.

"You've got to teach me that! And how did you know about those anyway?"

"Hmm… You're right, you definitely need to learn it, or otherwise, you'll still be as crappy as you are right now." Naiyuri said, completely ignoring his question.

"Hey—I'm the best in the city!" he said. And he wasn't just flattering himself.

"Well then, this city must be full of weaklings," Naiyuri muttered under her breath.

"I heard that! You can't just say something like tha—"

"The problem is that I won't be able to teach you," said Naiyuri, as if she'd already thought long and hard about it. "I'm a great teacher and all but I've never taught anyone with such a low level of talent like yours _or_ anyone as rude as you."

"What! You're the one that's insulting me!"

"I prefer to call it honesty. You should be happy I'm giving you constructive criticism. Besides, you can just forget that you've ever met me. I, however, will go back to sleep nowand wake up drowsy. And when I fall, which I know I will, my comrade will laugh at me. All because of you."

"Well—what if I look down on myself for the rest of my life because of this?"

"So you think you have low self-esteem?" she asked, in obvious 'I don't care about you' attitude. She wasn't even looking at the man. Apparently, she found the dirt lodged under her nails of much greater importance.

"No—" he began.

"So what's your point?" Naiyuri snapped, finally making eye contact.

"That I'm the Kazekage's brother, so you should be more respectful towards me!" announced the stranger, satisfied.

"Oh, so now you're hiding behind the Kazekage's back, eh?" said Naiyuri, eyebrows raised again.

He opened his mouth and closed it again. This was the first time anyone has spoken to him like this, before or after he put Gaara in the picture. "You—OK, that's it! You're definitely not going anywhere!"

"Now you're being vindictive. Didn't the Kazekage tell you to forgive and forget? You guys must not have been very close."

The puppeteer was taken aback. "This is why I hate women! They think they know everything!"

"You are such a sexist!" Naiyuri rolled her eyes. "Maybe it's not because women are bad but because you can't get a date!"

"What? I'm very sexy in most women's minds! You're just missing out!"

"Uh-huh," said Naiyuri, unconvinced. "Let's see your attributes: you wake people up before dawn, you've got low elf-esteem, you hide behind your brother's back, and you're a sexist. What am I supposed to see in you?"

"Hmph," grunted the stranger. "Whatever. So are you going to teach me or what?"

"I will if you pay me." Naiyuri held out her hand, "Nothing's free these days. So give!" It wasn't a bad idea either; Akatsuki didn't pay their members…

"Can't you be _nice_?" he emphasized.

"I could, or I could be paid. I choose being paid." Naiyuri replied, completely lacking any expression of kindness.

"Fine, meet me down the main street in three hours."

"Right…and I'll be on the lookout for some rude, weird guy in a dark robe."

The man look annoyed, "My name is Kankuro, in case you're wondering."

"No, I wasn't." Naiyuri answered.

"You really are heartless. What's your name anyway?"

"How many times have you ever called a teacher heartless? Sensei is all you need to call me."

"Yes, _sensei_," Kankuro retorted lamely, grasping what little pride he had left.

* * *

"I hate you! I hate you so much! You sexist—THING, you have no respect for any female!" Naiyuri yelled at the still sleeping Deidara, her voice shaking with hatred. When Naiyuri woke up, she had felt a sudden, overwhelming sense of anger she needed to let out… No doubt from the previous day's meeting. "What is wrong with you? Do you think all women are meant to be whores or something?"

"Kunoichi's started out being prostitutes, right? Yeah…" answered the just awoken Deidara, yawning. "They may be a little different but they still constantly nag at people."

Naiyuri glared at Deidara, "I DO NOT nag at you! I've never talked to you for any period over five minutes!"

Deidara pushed himself up to a more comfortable position. Obviously, Naiyuri wasn't going to let him sleep. "The only pleasure a woman can give a man is sexual pleasure, yeah… And even then they don't do too much of it. So life would be much better if they stayed in bed all the time…" content with his answer, he added his ever so famous, "Yeah…"

"How would you know, you perverted art freak?" Naiyuri asked coolly. She had quickly calmed herself. "I bet you're still a virgin!"

Deidara knew she was right, he _was_ still a virgin. But in no way was he going to let her have the satisfaction of knowing that. "I _have_ done it. Countless times too, you're the only virgin here."

"Nah—I have, with my boyfriend. Well, before Sasori made me kill him. I never would've thought you did it," Naiyuri analyzed him. "In fact, I think you're lying. No girl in their right mind would ever touch you."

The words stun Deidara cold. "What?"

"You heard me, you're lying." Naiyuri repeated her words with more confidence.

"You know, you better lure little Naruto-_kun_ out or else you'll get kicked out of Akatsuki…" Deidara said, changing the subject. It was getting a little out of hand.

"Who'd want to join it anyway?" Naiyuri spat out. "…with that Tsukiyomi?"

"You've never even experienced the full of it! The thing that Itachi gave you was just a taste!"

"What are you talking about? He did the same thing to you!" Naiyuri was confused; as she's been a lot lately.

"No, what he gave you was just a fraction of the real thing. That jutsu uses up chakra pretty fast and heavily. When he finished with you, he had more than he should have," explained Deidara. "Hah, I think he fancies you …"

"Really?" Naiyuri was shocked. Her voice showed curiosity and just a tiny bit of excitement. She'd never thought that Itachi would like her! It wasn't likely for a man that cold to have _any_ feelings, much less expressions of fondness.

_Maybe Akatsuki wouldn't be too bad..._Her expression was not unnoticed.

"Yeah, I think so, and I'll give you some advice, don't let him know you like him. He killed his last fan-girl…" It was a lie. Itachi hadn't had a fan-girl since Konoha, and he definitely wouldn't even bother with a girl, not even to kill one.

"By the way, turn off the lights. I'd like to get some sleep." Deidara managed over a yawn, leaving Naiyuri to ponder her thoughts.

* * *

Behind the hardened-sand made desk of the Kazekage, Gaara sat, thinking. His body had resorted to the typical Kage thinking position: elbows propped up, chin resting on intertwined fingers and a look of fierce concentration…._Is Akatsuki related to that bomb?_

"Baki," Gaara called out, "Baki. I need you to get me Naruto and Sakura-san."

In a flash, Baki appeared and nodded, "Yes."

--

Down in the village streets Naruto was looking for a worthy present with the help of Sakura. He was running out of time, Temari's party was the next day and he didn't have a clue of what to get her. "Sakura-chaaan! How about this one?"

"Naruto…don't call me that out loud, it's embarrassing…" Sakura muttered, looking over her shoulder.

"Ah!" Naruto stepped back. He had finally noticed all the people watching them. It was like a scary movie—how everything would be quiet and you think that the main character is alone but then she turns around and a half dead man is just standing there? It was just that feeling. Naruto was about to start yelling at the crowd when he overhead what two teenage girls were saying.

"Yeah, that's them! They're the ninjas who helped with the rescue!" one of them said, "That guy there is a really close friend of Gaara-sama, too."

Naruto's irritation of the people was quickly replaced by a newfound hope. _Yeah! Yeah! I finally get fan girls!_

"Are you sure? I thought he would be better looking…" the second girl said, pouting. "He looks like a…"

"Like an idiot?" the first girl suggested.

Naruto's face instantly fell. His eyes grew into snake-like slits, an expression unfavorable enough to rival Shino's.

"That's it! Yeah, hideous! Haha, Gaara-sama looks 100 times better…"

As their laughter faded away, Sakura's own began. "Haha… I'm sorry—Hahaha—I can't stop!" she sputtered out, trying to contain her self; clutching her stomach.

Naruto responded, still with his sour expression, "…and you say _I'm_ embarrassing…?"

The laughter was cut short; a man appeared in front of them. "Naruto-san! Sakura-san! Please come, Kazekage-sama needs you immediately."

--

"Hello Naruto, Sakura-san." Gaara said when the pair arrived. He nodded towards his close advisor and former team leader, "Baki, you may leave now."

Gaara skipped right to the point. "Naruto, remember the jewelry shop we went to yesterday?" he asked, hoping that his memory wasn't as bad as what Shikamaru had mentioned.

"Of course I remember!" Naruto replied, unusually grouchy.

"Naruto, are you okay?" Gaara asked, worried. Was Naruto still mad about his joke yesterday? Maybe jokes were no good after all.

Naruto glared at him. "How come you get the girls?"

"What?" Gaara was confused.

"Why is it that you get the girls?" Naruto asked again.

"Sakura, what is this about?"

Sakura laughed, "While we were looking for a present to give to Temari-san, we err…" Sakura shot a glance at Naruto, "we heard some girls talk about you."

"That's it?" Gaara asked.

"No, there's more," Sakura gave out another burst of laughter. "They said that you were very sexy and elite," Sakura giggled. "Whereas Naruto was―" Sakura's laughter wouldn't stop.

"Yes?"

"They said he was―" Sakura tried stopping her laughter, but only made things worse. Her inhuman strength cracked the wall behind her as she banged on it.

The door flew open. "Hi, I heard a noise so I came in and―" Temari stopped. "What did you do?" She pointed to the newly broken wall.

"I'm sorry," Sakura managed to squeeze, through the laughter. "I couldn't—stop."

"Well, Temari, since you're here, stay. Okay, Naruto, about the store, remember the girl there?" Gaara asked.

"Oh yeah, what happened to her?"

"Exactly," Gaara pressed. "What _did_ happen to her? Think Naruto, what was the last thing you saw?"

"Hmm…" Naruto thoughtfully brought his hands to his chin, "the sand dome."

"No, before that." Gaara replied.

"Uh...an explosion?"

"No, close though."

"It wasn't an explosion?" Naruto was confused. Surely, something _exploding_ would be an _explosion._

"No, that's not what he meant." Temari explained. "He means close to that time period."

"Oh," Naruto thought about it again. "Let's see…Didn't someone grab her?"

"Yes, someone _did_ grab her," Gaara reinstated. "And what did the bomb look like, Naruto?"

"Someone's art project. A sculpture."

"Akatsuki," Temari immediately realized where her brother was going.

"That's what I thought, too." Gaara agreed.

"Wait, so Akatsuki came back to Suna?" Sakura suddenly became very serious. "How did they know that Naruto was here?"

"I don't know," that was the part Gaara hadn't worked out yet. "But Naruto, you have to be careful now."

"I know, I know." Naruto said in a monotonous tone. "I've heard from Ero-sennin enough times already."

"Well, there's also another theory that I have. Akatsuki might not really know that you're here. See, if they did, they wouldn't have set off that bomb; they wouldn't want to injure Naruto. So…what I'm wondering is, why would they grab the girl? What is so important about her?" Gaara stood up and paced around his desk.

Temari scoffed, "Nothing. They were probably just going to rape her. She's got to be dead by now."

Sakura clenched her fists, her muscles showing. "I'm not going to let Akatsuki get away with it! They're going down…"

"Sakura, calm down. I personally disagree; I think she actually has more value than that. They wouldn't destroy a whole building just to get _one_ girl."

"Maybe she's a famous prostitute?" Temari offered. "Or…an old girlfriend that has dumped one of them… Who knows?"

Naruto glanced at the wall clock. "Gaara, we have to go. We'll talk about this later, okay?"

"Sure, but Naruto―"

"Hmm…?"

"What was that thing the girls were saying?"

He turned away… "They said I looked hideous."

Even Gaara couldn't hold in his laughter.

* * *

All over Suna, clocks struck three PM. The restaurants were empty now; most people had already gone back to work, training, or taking their afternoon nap.

"Damn, where is she?" muttered Kankuro.

Far in the distance, Naiyuri was still walking in a leisurely fashion. She turned her head several times to smell the fresh flowers while she walked. Her steps held extra bounce, and only someone who knew her as well as Sasori would realize that she was an unreasonable amount happier than she had been in a long time.

"You're late!" Kankuro yelled furiously.

"I know. I just wanted to test your patience." Naiyuri said, using the ever popular phrase.

"Yeah, yeah. So where's your puppet?"

"Oh, I don't have one. They're so annoying! You have to carry them, take care of them, and the extra junk is very irritating." Naiyuri said in a knowing tone. Her voice was much chirpier as well, and all of this because of what Deidara said.

"…How are you going to help me train then?"

"You'll see, you'll see..."

"I'm paying you! It's the least you can do to tell me how the hell you're going to train me!"

Naiyuri shrugged, "It's really your choice. We _can _just do nothing and waste even more time."

--

The trip to Naiyuri's training ground was long and hard. They had walked nonstop for hours through sand so hot that there was a layer of steam just above the surface. By the end of the day, the pair had confronted wild desert animals, fought off a swarm of desert bees, and both thought of each other as food. When they finally reached their destination, the sun was already starting to set.

"So," Kankuro paused, taking a deep breath. "This is the place?"

"Yup" Naiyuri's arrogant voice replied. "I really can't believe you're already tired! What kind of survival training did you go through? How to survive in_ Candyland_?"

"But there's only sand! How am I supposed to train here?" Kankuro protested. After a couple of hours with no one but Naiyuri, he had found out it was best to ignore her comments, not matter how rude they were.

"Shinobi should be able to fight in _any_ situation. Actually," Naiyuri smiled, "I have no idea where we are."

Kankuro's mouth dropped. _I didn't bring anything! We're going to starve..._

"So your first lesson will be to find a way back to Suna. Preferably before we die."

He blinked, "What? _You_ don't even know how to get back! How do you expect me to know? What if I can't get us back?"

Naiyuri smiled innocently, "I don't but really, do you _want_ to be like me? ...not knowing _anything_?" Her sarcasm-covered words were completely missed.

Kankuro scoffed, "Why would anyone want to be like you?"

Naiyuri's innocence left, the blow of the wind only added to the effect of her sudden change in attitude. "Because—I can _still_ kill you."

Kankuro's stood in amazement, "You're not serious, are you?"

"What? You don't think I'm capable?" Naiyuri threatened as she took out a kunai from the hem of her skirt.

"No, no, I think you're very capable. Really, I think you're better than my brother, which is impressive since you're a girl," Kankuro was never good at sucking up. "Now, since I so elaborately complimented you, please don't—"

"Shut up!" Naiyuri angrily yelled at him.

"What?" Kankuro was very confused. Most people would say something along the lines of 'thank you' but she chose the exact opposite.

Naiyuri raised the kunai closer and closer to Kankuro's throat. His eyes widened with fear; no one wanted to die at the young age of 17. He hadn't even _done it,_ yet. The kunai soon reached his neck, piercing parts of skin from which perfect drops of blood spilt. He shut his eyes, scared to the point were his whole body was numb. He heard a sharp whooshing sound.

"Eat."

"Huh?" his eyes opened wide, and he looked around. Poking out of a sand dune was a newly deceased coyote with a dagger perfectly penetrated through its head.

"But first, you'd have to skin it." Naiyuri said. "Lesson number one, always check to make sure your kunai sash is full, you never know when you might need one. For example, they're used for quick and silent assassinations given its size. You can also use it for killing things such as this immensely furry thing for food. Or—as all weapons could—you can use it to help remove slow traveling poison or if the situation demands, use it to break out of genjutsu."

"Now, do you know how to make fire?" Naiyuri asked a few hours of 'important' lessons later. She looked up at Kankuro for a reply, but he had long ago fallen into extremely deep, dreamless sleep. _Tomorrow, then..._

* * *

Kankuro pushed himself further. The Kazekage Tower was only ten yards away now, and he would soon be in a nice tub of steaming hot water. Just the thought of being able to rip everything off and soak him self from head to toe kept him going. The puppeteer had lost his headdress, his robe, and most of his purple paint had washed off with the heavily dripping blood from his forehead. Kankuro wasn't in any critical condition, but he had **a lot** to learn. _Who knew making fire would be so hard? No wonder the Uchiha clan is considered elite..._

"What have I gotten myself into?" he muttered to himself.

He felt better the second he entered the air conditioned building. Using the wall as support, he clambered up the stairstoward his bathroom. His body was working like a puppet—the more he moved, the better he felt. Naiyuri was right: if he was capable of functioning normally in these circumstances, the stronger he would become.

By the time Kankuro settled in the water, it was one in the morning. He was completely relaxed and actually had added bubbles to the bath. It took him about five seconds to realize something. He was missing the most important part of a bubble bath. One of his most important friends.

Kankuro sat silent in the tub, listening for any sounds. When he was sure he was by himself, he walked across the room, wrapping a towel around his waist in the process. He stopped at the tiled wall on the other side of the room. At first glimpse, the wall seemed like an abstract piece of art—it had a couple of gold tiles among many other dark colored ones. But the walls true function was only known by a handful of people.

Kankuro kicked a certain spot of the wall, causing tile to fall out (duh), leaving an empty space. Kankuro began moving the tiles around, like a puzzle. He had had the steps memorized since he was five, back when his father was the Kazekage. _Left, gold to right, up, gold down…_

When he finished, in the place of the wall that had no significance minutes ago, was a portrait of a golden duck.

Kankuro raised his arm towards the Duck. Closing his eyes, he concentrated his chakra to his hand and pushed it through the wall. The duck immediately spread out and created an opening—almost like the Leaky Cauldron entrance to Diagon Alley, millions of universes away. Right beside the entrance, there was a cabinet. Inside the cabinet there were thousands of….

Rubber bath toys.

"No, no, I don't need you, Sir Leo. No— not you Miss Koala…" he said, pushing his way through the cabinet. "Aha, Mr. Duckie! I have found you!" Kankuro childishly exclaimed. He had picked the oldest of them all—good 'ole Mr. Duckie.

He slid back into the bathtub, and closed his eyes. Everything was perfect, just the way it should be…

**BANG!**

Kankuro's eyes shot open.

"Where have you been!" Temari's voice boomed. The peace had left too soon.

"Ah!" Kankuro rushed to cover himself with pink bubbles. The door Temari thrust open was still shaking from the sudden force. _Do we have to talk about privacy issues again…?_

Kankuro spoke as normal as possible, given the situation, "Temari, we've gone through this before. I let you pick my meals, I let you pick my clothes, and I even let you train with me! But this has gone too far, is having the bathroom to myself too much to ask for? I mean really, y—"

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" Temari repeated, with much more fury. The older they got, the more Temari acted like a replacement for their mother.

"I was training," he said, "you know, like I always do?"

"Liar!" spat Temari.

"Seriously, I _was,_" Kankuro was getting annoyed. Who knew telling the truth was so hard? "I met someone, and she's pretty good. Anyways, if you don't believe me, you can meet her tomorrow. I invited her to your party." _Not yet...but she better say yes when I ask her tomorrow…_

* * *

_Tap. Tap, Tap-Tap, Tap._

Naiyuri cringed in her sleep. She groaned and muttered something about shutting the fuck up, but still, lazily, grabbed the black robe hanging pathetically from the nightstand and dragged herself out of bed.

_Tap. Tap._

_God…_Naiyuri decided against the robe, if whoever it was wanted to see her that badly, they wouldn't mind seeing _more of her_…

She dragged herself out of bed to the door. _Who do you think you are to—_"Oh…it's you. I thought you didn't want to train today," she yawned, slumping on the door frame. "Didn't you say something about being too sore?" She propped her hands up on her hips, looking just like a swimsuit model.

Kankuro stood in the open doorway, gaping at the inappropriate clothed Naiyuri. "Do you always answer the door in that?"

"Depends, do you always wake people up early in the morning?" Naiyuri questioned back.

"Okay, I see your point," Kankuro replied. He looked over her shoulder, into hotel room. "Do you need a place to stay or something? For free, I mean."

Naiyuri bit her fingernails, and asked thoughtfully, "Maybe, what do you have in mind?"

Kankuro shrugged, "You could stay with me."

"And get waken up possibly even earlier?" _Though there'd be no more Deidara…_

"Sorry! That was just a one time thing!" Kankuro apologized.

"Two times," corrected Naiyuri.

"Uh huh, so are you in or what?"

"I'll think about it," Naiyuri answered. She waved her hand absently, dismissing the idea for now. "Well, if you don't have anything else to say…" she started closing the door.

"No wait!" Kankuro stuck a hand out and stopped the door. "I need you to do me a favor…"

"What?"

"Can you go to my sister's birthday party today?" Kankuro asked. "I know it's short notice, but I promised she'll get to meet you today. She kind of got mad at me yesterday for being gone a whole day without telling anyone."

"What is she? Your mom?" asked Naiyuri, jokingly.

"Yeah, the only thing she hasn't done is child birth."

Naiyuri began to laugh, but caught herself. She hadn't laughed in years. How did this guy make her laugh on the third day they've known each other?

"So, will you come? Plwease?" Kankuro pleaded, transforming into his childish self. "There's free food."

"Yeah, yeah…" Naiyuri rolled her eyes. "But only for the food."

"Fair enough, but you have to dress formally…"

"That's fine. I have the perfect outfit," replied Naiyuri. "Okay, then. See y─"

"Wait!"

"What now? No, don't tell me. You told your friends that I was your girlfriend and now you want me to pretend I'm some lovesick girl?" Naiyuri asked.

"Well, no. I just need to know your name. You've never told me, it wouldn't look good if I spent a whole day in the desert with a girl whose name I don't even know. Although, I wouldn't mind impressing my friends, it'll be nice if they thoug─"

"No. And it's Naiyuri."

"Naiyuri what? What's your surname?" Kankuro asked curiously.

Naiyuri forced a smile, "I don't have one. Now leave."

* * *

CONTINUED! 


	4. Chapter 2 continued

It was completely likely that the exact number of steps Naiyuri and her escort took to get to the party was the same as the number of men staring at her by then. Truthfully, probably not even steps; more like every _sound_ she made….A new head seemed to turn every time she opened her mouth.

Kankuro had picked her up not a second of a difference from the planned time. They had animatedly chatted the whole way there, about—no doubt…puppets. They talked about the styles, argued over where the best place to put a weapon was, and had came up with the idea of creating their own.

Along the way, they had gathered a whole group of men, hypnotized by the kunoichi's beauty. Kankuro was surprised to see that most of them were high ranking ninjas and were all invited to the party. Who knew Temari had so many pathetic friends? It's no wonder that she nags at people…

--

Naiyuri had topped off her short light green dress with her newly obtained hair pin. The hair pin that just happened to be the one Temari wanted (nobody knew it was stolen, of course). To put a long story short, Naiyuri looked beautiful.

Temari saw her brother enter—with a girl. _He didn't lie after all…_ She walked towards him, "Excuse me."

"Hey Temari! This is Naiyuri. And Naiyuri, this is Temari, my sister." Kankuro introduced.

"Nice party," Naiyuri smiled and held out her hand.

"Thanks," Temari replied and reached out her hand too. Before they had the chance to shake, Temari noticed the people staring at them—well, Naiyuri. Temari couldn't help but to feel jealous. "You have a lot of admirers."

Naiyuri laughed (and didn't try to hide it, just _what_ was happening to her?), "I guess they didn't see that I came with him." She poked Kankuro. "By the way, I didn't really have a present for you—"

"Oh, don't worry about it."

"No, no. Here," Naiyuri picked the jade pin out of her hair. No matter. It hadn't cost her anything in the first place…

"Wow…" Temari gasped. _This pin—the one at Kayahara's! _Temari smiled"Thank you…"

* * *

"Did you see her?"

"Yeah…"

"She's really pretty…"

"Uwah….I'm so jealous!"

When Gaara first heard these high-pitched whispers, he thought they meant Temari. It _was_ her party… But he started to doubt it when he heard lines like:

"I'm going to ask her out."

"No way, man! I am!"

_Shikamaru—you better act fast…Those guys beat you in rank_, he had thought. But after a couple of unreasonably hard comments that Gaara couldn't understand (at 16 years of age, even the Kazekage didn't know _all_ the sex slang…), he was forced to ask just who everyone was talking about…

"Excuse me, Kohan-san."

"Kazekage-sama!" the chuunin automatically bowed.

"No, no, that's not necessary. I just wanted to ask…" Gaara trailed off. His eyes followed a beautiful woman, who had just walked by, laughing—with Kankuro.

"Haha, even the Kazekage can't resist her."

"So that's who everyone was talking about…" Gaara was more astounded by the woman's familiarity than her beauty. _Where have I..? _

"Yeah, you heard? I think Temari-san is getting jealous…"

Gaara ran over the list of the appearances of the girl at the store in his mind. Brown hair, brown eyes….It was too general. This was an important matter and he was the Kazekage! He could've just walked over and demanded what the girl knew about Akatsuki. But something stopped him; maybe it was the fear of being wrong, or making a fool of himself…

* * *

Everything was well in the life of Keiko Sekizaki. She was finally being noticed by Gaara, as he was her date. Even if the whole reason he did it was out of pity, she decided to disregard it. In time, Gaara will realize what a great person she was and fall madly in love.

Though day-dreaming usually required one's full awareness, Keiko mastered the complete art of it and was able to daydream happily and also be conscious of what was going on around her. Caught in mid-thought (you really don't want to know what that thought was...), she noticed something was amiss. Not only was Gaara paying absolutely no attention to her all, he was staring at someone _else_; someone who he has never met before, or even talked to!

The girl, Naiyuri was the name, was flirting with every guy at the party, even _Temari's_ Shikamaru. She never did anything to Gaara except ignore him; no way did she deserve her. Anyway, she _had_ to go. A plan quickly formed in her head.

"Kohan!" Keiko hissed. "Come here!"

Annoyed, Kohan broke off his conversation with the stunningly gorgeous Naiyuri. "What?"

"Well, you see, that very girl you were talking to—" Keiko pointed at Naiyuri, "I've heard she's a total slut. Have you seen how many people she's hit on? Did you know that the only reason she's here is because Kankuro likes her? I'm guessing she seduced him. She's probably easy, too."

"How easy?" Kohan asked. He had a certain look on his face indicating…_things_.

"What a lost cause…" muttered Keiko. "At least Gaara-sama isn't like that…"

Keiko moved along stealthily, like a snake, grabbing random men and feeding them false information about how disgusting and slutty Naiyuri was, inventing more and more insults as she went along. For every guy she had managed to persuade away, it seemed two more joined the slut's crowd. She didn't understand, just what was so great about that girl?

She decided to take a break, oblivious to the fact that her efforts had almost no effect at all, and looked for Gaara instead, and found him busily talking to a council elder.

"Really, Gaara-sama, please send him home after the party."

"No, no Naruto is safe here," and being the quick thinker he is, added "We don't want other shinobi villages to think that we can't even protect one ninja."

"Fine, I understand, but are you sure he's capable of—"

"Gaara-sama?" Keiko tapped him, "Hello?" but Gaara didn't give any inclination that he noticed she was there.

"Fine, I'll be waiting for you over here. You know, all alone…"

Feeling an immense amount of boredom, Keiko grabbed the nearest cup to her, and poured its contents into her mouth. She paid no attention to the burning sensation as the liquid traveled down her throat. Time passed by quickly as with the draining of the substance.

* * *

There was only one topic at Temari's birthday bash, Naiyuri. Rumors of her spread like wildfire, ranging from good to bad. Temari had heard enough, if even one of the stories of the new girl and Kankuro were true—he was as good as dead.

"KANKURO!" Temari roared threateningly. Unlucky for Kankuro, Temari was standing right behind Keiko during one of her 'truth lectures' to the men of Suna. She was going to kill him. Sex before marriage. Unacceptable.

"Huh?" Kankuro turned from Naiyuri, "What, Temari? Oh yeah… Happy birthday, that's what you're mad about, right?"

"NO!"

"Uh, I'll be right back. I need to use the restroom." Naiyuri politely excused herself, just in time too.

"I SWEAR YOU…" Naiyuri blocked out the rest. She _was_ here on a mission, no matter how many guys asked her out. It was now or never, and 'never' was never an option with Akatsuki—with Tsukiyomi. Naiyuri took a deep breath, _Better to get this over with..._

"Hey you! You! In the orange!" she called out. _Oh god, my reputation will never be able to live this down…_

"Huh?" A blonde-haired boy of fifteen turned in response.

"Hey, are you Naruto?" Naiyuri ran towards him. She carefully laid out her next words in her mind. She only had one shot at this, or the jinchuuriki would get suspicious.

"Uh, yeah…" the boy answered, suspicious already despite Naiyuri's effort to sound natural.

"So," Naiyuri kicked into her never-failing, irresistible, seducing voice. "How would you…like to...have a drink with me…?"

"I'm fifteen." Naruto replied, eyes narrowing.

"Um," Naiyuri coughed uncomfortably. "We don't have to have alcohol, let's just get some…orange juice."

"Are you mocking me?"

"No, I—" Naiyuri began.

"—'Cause I'm tired of this! I never get the girls…I bet one of the guys made you do this! Who was it? Geji-mayu? Neji? Kankuro? Gaara? Oh no—don't tell me…Sakura-chan?" Naruto cried in exasperation. "Aw…that's exactly what Sakura-chaaaaan would do, I can't believe her..."

"Uh…," Naiyuri had no idea what he was talking about, and could only pathetically make another attempt to 'lure' Naruto, "How about we get out of here? It's a lame party anyway… Let's go back to my hotel, I—um, have something I wanna show you…."

"_EEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHH_? You're flirting with me now? I can't believe Sakura-chan would go this far!"

"Right…let's just get out of here; I want us to be alone." Naiyuri gave another uncomfortable cough. She was going to have nightmares about this for weeks.

"What do you want to do alone?" asked Naruto innocently. Fifteen years of age, after all.

Naiyuri's mind wandered frantically until it rested on the perfect line. Something she had picked up on a favorite anime show of hers, Samurai Champloo. "There are only a few things a man and a woman can do alone together." Naiyuri said in her sexiest voice, swallowing her pride along with an overflowing amount of saliva (it was nervous work, anyone would).

"Ah…." Even Naruto's simple and innocent intelligence seemed to understand a hint as obvious as that. "NO, NO, NO! No way! I already have someone I like!" Naruto hysterically waved his arms, trying to explain to this crazy woman that his heart belonged to Sakura. "And…and…and...I…eh….ah…no, no, no, 'cause then Kakashi-sensei will...and, and, and...No, no…"

"Okay then…," sighed Naiyuri, much more from the relief that she now had a reason to discontinue what she was doing than the fact that she's just failed her first official mission in Akatsuki. "It'll be best if we both forgot about this incident…"

"Yeah…yeah, it would."

* * *

After becoming the Kazekage, Gaara made a habit of checking the outskirts of Sunagakure every few hours. On days he couldn't be at the tower, where he had a clear view of the entire village, he performed a special jutsu instead. He had developed this jutsu in his genin days along with the majority of his others. Back then, he still had to close an eye and concentrate his chakra. But at the level he is now, he improved the jutsu so much that his eyes could remain open, and the third eye outside was theoretically not limited to any distance.

Gaara quickly scanned the perimeters, only half-heartedly replying to the council elder. He appeared totally focused on the man, though his attention was miles away. "That's odd…"

"Hmm..? Yes, well I suppose putting Naruto-san in a cage is a bit strange…"

"Hn…" Gaara's half-hearted responses were now reduced to those of no heart. His mind was completely with his third eye, out towards the village borders.

At first he thought his usually flawless Daisan no Me was showing a glitch, since he had never moved the eye this far. It could've also been a possibility that the third eye was damaged in a way so that it showed a gray blob at the horizon of the setting sun, as unlikely as it is to seem so much like a cloud…

"Sir, could you excuse me? I have an errand to tend to…" Without waiting for an answer, Gaara prepared for Suna-Shunshin no Jutsu (Sand Body Flicker), and in seconds he appeared by his third eye.

"Oh, no…" Gaara barely mumbled. There was absolutely no problem with his jutsu.

_...A storm cloud, it was a storm cloud filled with bickering thunder and lightning, flashing and roaring at one another..._

* * *

When the kunoichi looked down, she saw that she had somehow drunk through countless numbers of cups, bottles, and glasses._ God, I need to lie down. What kind of headache is this? At least there isn't anyone near Naiyuri now,_ she noted. _But where has Gaara-sama gone? And where is everyone else?_

Naiyuri, who sat in the very back with Kankuro, was still recovering from the shock of….ahem. _Oh my god…oh my god, oh my god..._, she kept repeating to herself, as she had for the past 20 minutes. Naruto had gathered everyone to the stage area, was he planning on announcing what she did?

"Ladies and gentlemen… May I have your attention please," Naruto said loud and clear into the microphone. Keiko looked up and noticed everyone sitting at the dinner tables, all facing towards the huge stage in the center of the party.

"Temari, since I couldn't find a good enough present for you… This is for you…"

Naruto cleared his throat and began; "Until the day I die! I'll spill my heart for you…! FOR YOU! Come on everyone! I know you know this song! Shikamaru, get up here! She's _your_ girlfriend! UNTIL THE DAY I DIE! I'll SPILL MY HEART FOR YOU!"

Naiyuri sighed in relief. A child coughed. Everyone was silenced. Until…

"What the hell, Naruto? You SUCK!" a random voice called out from the crowd. Naruto disregarded it, and continued. Before long, the majority of the party's attendants were yelling, throwing tomatoes and a few—crying. It was horror to human ears, perhaps the evolution of the windpipe.

Naruto stepped off the stage and went straight onto a table, crushing expensive glassware in the process, all while singing the now infamous song by Story of the Year. He leapt from table to table, eventually stopping in front of Shikamaru, where he sat with Temari. "As the years go by… I race the clock with you…" he droned on.

Shikamaru leaned over to Temari. With his eyes still locked on Naruto, he whispered, "He's drunk…I swear I don't know him…"

Temari whispered back, "Could you please tell him to stop?"

"YOU REMIND ME OF THE TIMES WHEN I KNEW WHO I WAS―"

"OK, I'm thinking." Shikamaru's hands automatically formed into the familiar square shape.

"Now's not the time for that! We need to do something _now_! He could seriously hurt himself," Temari looked cautiously at Naruto, who had been so drenched with emotion that his eyes were closed and was swaying side to side.

"But still the second hand will catch us… LIKE IT ALWAYS D—"

A flash of bright light caused everyone to abruptly stop, including Naruto. The sky was rapidly filling up with gray clouds, _like pieces of large, discolored cotton candy..._

* * *

Gaara acted promptly and efficiently, as any Kazekage would. He informed all guards on duty to immediately send messages for the villagers to get home, to a safe shelter. He started creating little, storm-proof huts with his chakra-compressed sand and moved food into the huts.

No way was he going to let his village perish. No way was he going to let _anyone_ in Suna suffer. He had promised himself that he would never let anyone die as long as he was Kazekage. Without this promise, how was he going to be respected by everyone?

In 15 minutes, he had set around 1000 huts, enough for only half the population. Gaara looked up into the sky, into the approaching clouds. Could he do this? Would he make it in time?

Gaara thought about the villagers, the children, who still had their futures ahead of them. Was he going to ruin everything for them? He thought of the young men and women of the village, the ones like him, who had dreams that needed to be realized and lives to live to the fullest—Gaara stopped himself.

With one last determined look at the sky, he got back to work.

* * *

Though the storm had the sufficient energy to wipe out all of Suna (and it mostly did, even with the Kazekage's efforts to stop it), it was miniscule compared to Naruto's so-called _singing_. It could be argued however, which did the most damage. Both gave everlasting memories, one that destroyed your home and one that destroyed your ears.

"Naiyuri!" Kankuro called out. "You did enough!" It was true; Naiyuri did help in the storm. She was able to create a water shield, so that the waves wouldn't hit the houses on the east side (rain, with sand dunes were bound to make waves). She made it almost possible to see that men and women were equal, well—_almost_. Still, it was a wonder whether she protected that part of the city out of generosity or simply because her hotel was on that side of town.

"Are you sure?" Naiyuri gasped for breath. She barely survived when an unnoticed wave snuck up behind her and knocked her off her feet.

The work that was done to help save Suna was hard, yet…fun. No crazy blonde guy to yell at her, anyway. Besides, it wasn't as if Kankuro could do much without her. A puppet may be able to save lives but it'll never be able to save buildings, but Naiyuri could do both.

_This could make headlines, an _**_Akatsuki_**_ saving lives..._

Yeah, I'm sure. The storm's settling down now." Kankuro replied. "I'll walk you to your place. You might not like what you'll find though… We'll see if you need a place to stay for the night."

"Mm… Okay," Naiyuri smiled deviously. "You know, you owe me _a lot_. First, no free food! The dangos that were supposed to arrive never came. And second, just now, I had to help save Suna." She counted off. "_And_, you still didn't pay me yet for the lesson."

Kankuro sighed, "I'm offering you a place to sleep, remember?"

"Why else would I make sure this part of town is safe and water free? It's not like I use up chakra like that all the time. And I'm _not_ sleeping with you," Naiyuri flashed her flirtatious smile.

"Hmph! You're too old for me anyways!" Kankuro defended.

"What? I'm only 17!" Naiyuri crossed her arms. "If I'm too old for you, then you'd be like—12!"

"YOU'RE 17! _I'M_ 17! I thought you were some old lady using some kind of jutsu to make yourself look younger! Like the Hokage!" Kankuro wildly exclaimed.

"_Excuse_ me?"

By the time they stopped bickering, they had already arrived at the hotel. The Four Star Hotel (it was not four stars, in case you were wondering) had only a few cracked windows and a beaten down roof. Nothing else was out of the ordinary—although the ground they walked on _was_ a little dampened, and squished through Naiyuri's sandals… But otherwise, yes, the trash piled up on the ground was there on a daily basis.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow then?" Naiyuri turned around to Kankuro.

"No, I can't, I have to help Gaara build huts for the homeless, and something about not being able to do as much as he did when he was a jinchuuriken." He sighed. "Gaara's the only one in the family who's truly gifted with sand but I can do a little."

"The only part that wasn't destroyed is this side," he continued on. "That was... cool, by the way. The wave thing."

"Hah—good job on the compliment. This time, it actually sounded like one. And thanks, I learned it when I was eight." Naiyuri responded casually.

"So... Is water element your specialty then?" Kankuro asked.

"My…specialty?" Naiyuri frowned. She had never thought about things that way. She was always taught that she should master everything, fire, water, etc. "No," she shook her head. "I think earth is more of my department, but not sand though. I prefer moving large solid things than small bits altogether."

"I guess I've always liked ice, it can become hard like rock but unlike earth, it can grow larger." Naiyuri explained. "Although ice and water are very different, they considered the same type of class. Also, you must learn water before its sub-class, ice."

Naiyuri started walking up the stairs, but stopped. "I'll help you with the huts tomorrow, if you want it... Free."

"Thanks Nai," Kankuro smiled. "I was going to use my puppets instead of my weak ability to move sand. I can make them carry large bags of sand but the sand sometimes gets in their joints. It's such a hassle to clean."

* * *

As Naiyuri got closer and closer to her door, she sensed someone there. _Great, what a way to end the day..._ She put her hand on her knob but instead of turning— "What, Deidara?"

"Where were you?" he angrily demanded.

"Out, _duh_," Naiyuri decided to use her annoyed voice. "You know, trying to 'lure' Naruto?"

"Oh," Deidara was silenced. He didn't really think she was going to do it. He had to admit, the plan _was_ stupid. "Well? Did you succeed?"

"Do you see him here?" Naiyuri rolled her eyes. "He was too into this girl—" she snapped her fingers in an annoyed way, trying to remember her name—"Haruno Sakura."

Deidara snorted, "So that means you couldn't even beat a pathetic girl?"

Naiyuri shrugged "I'm too old for him anyway, he's just 15." She started for her room. After saving about an eighth of the city from flooding, she was hella tired.

"Hold it!" Deidara put an out a hand to stop the door from closing. "There was a specific reason why I came all this way and waited for you, yeah..."

"What 'all this way'?" Naiyuri snapped at him. "You couldn't have walked down a single hall way? You probably waited for me because you have no life or something!"

Deidara gave out a little chilling laugh. "No—Naiyuri, you think you're so smart. You want to know what happened today?" He was starting to get a little hysterical, even leaving out his ever so overused _yeah's_. "I'll tell you what happened! The _Leader_ came _here_, demanding to know if we got Naruto or not!"

Naiyuri wasn't expecting that. "Oh."

"Oh? OH? Is that all you can say?" Deidara was shaking a fist in the air. "_Oh_ isn't going to solve this problem 'cause you know what else he said? He said that every three days, we're going to have to go to the tree cave so Itachi can use the Tsukiyomi on us."

Deidara pounded his fist into the wall. "I don't want to go through that again." he said fiercely.

"Until we capture him you mean?" Naiyuri asked.

"Yeah, and if we don't get him in three weeks, we'll be sent away—" he paused. "To _train_. You know how humiliating that would be?" Deidara yelled at her.

Naiyuri blinked, just thinking of it was painful. "I'm sorry. I get it, I _really_ get it now."

"Come on," she pulled Deidara's massive (massive, not fat) body into her room and sat on the floor. "We have to think of a plan."

By accident, Deidara's ring dropped on to the rug. "Here," Naiyuri picked it up and handed it back to him. "You know," she said, "We should switch rings, The Virgin should go to an actual virgin."

Deidara turned faintly pink. "I'm not a virgin!"

"Sure, sure," Naiyuri yawned. "Now, any bright ideas?"

"Yeah... No," Deidara replied. "Wait—I got it! You can ask Naruto if he wants any help getting Sakura. Then, you two could go shopping to get her a gift—" Deidara turned, "Are you even listening?"

Naiyuri was sprawled out on the floor, fast sleep, wet dress and all. Deidara sighed, _so now I'm her babysitter too, yeah?_ He picked her up and took her to her bed.

And with one last glance at his sleeping comrade, he turned off the lights. "Night, Naiyuri."

* * *

**A/N: EDIIIIIIITED! YEAH!  
**

**_TaurenLeaf Primary _**– Um, sorry…? Well, I don't think any of you were waiting that eagerly... Anyway, it was much fun adding the word 'Duckie' into my Word dictionary and adding my favorite song! If you have time, please listen to it! XD!

**TaurenLeaf Secondary** – If she was here: some stupid and rude comment about—if not my (Primary's) writing….than my AN, cause that's just how mean she is

**TaurenLeaf****_Editor_** – I'M EDITOR. ENJOY THE FIC, IT'S VERY GOOD. IF YOU FIND MISTAKES, BLAME IT ON PRIMARY FOR NOT CHANGING IT WHEN I TOLD HER TO OR ME BECAUSE IT'S MY JOB.


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